Hyalite Creek solo

We got hit by a sweet rainstorm on the 24th. rained all day long. It also happened to be Davids Birthday. Out of nowhere I received a call from my neighbor Jason who decided he wanted to take me up to Hyalite for a lap, if the gate was open. I grabbed my shit and had it in the truck after he got done with his shift, at Northern Lights. As we drove up everything worked out, plenty of water in the creek, open gate at the bottom of the canyon, and a clean enough creek to kayak. At the putin I found out I didnt pack my skirt... as we are driving back down to go back to my place on the Gouch, three turns down the road, a kayaker named John rolls up the road. We flip er around and have a quick chat, only took 20 secs before John decided he was going to lend me his Holy skirt.. We drive back to the put in and I seal launch in to the frozen creek at 6:30pm for a chilly but well deserved and needed lap down Hyalite Creek. I feel like Schmitt wanted me to go creeking!

lots of boating going on..

going keep it short and sweet. lots of boating going on..
Lower Deer Creek was Killer again this year. heres a low side run



Hit up a section of Swan Creek, a tributary of the Gallatin, that my buddy Andy tipped me off to it last summer, Im calling it the Micro Mank from now on.. cant wait to see what high water looks like.



and heres a clip of the Laramie River after our Bluegrass skunk, some Big Sky boarding, some Fremont with my Sensi Pat Toft, a little four wheeling, and a run down the not so classic, south fork of the west fork of the Gallatin..

Passing of a Legend

David Schmitt was a killer dude in every aspect possible. He was a great friend, great member of his family, and sort of the guy who always went out of his way when doing anything. The sky was the limit with David and his smile brought happiness no matter the occasion. I will miss him deeply as well as the countless number of people he touched. We should all remember Dave for the awsome life he lived and the countless happy times he shared with all of us. Love you David, you are the Definition of a Legend my friend! i think i found your Kingpin!

Box Elder Creek

What was suppose to be 3 days of kayaking and 5 runs turned into, one dry river bed aka bluegrass with a missing bridge on the way to the put in. Being reluctent to take no for an answer; we knew 402 cfs was being released else where. We set for bluegrass hoping for a possible mid day release we ended up finding 400 cfs in a normally dewatered creekbed. Little does any one know the cement bridge you cross before turning off of tunnel road on the way to bluegrass is actually the natural stream bed of the Laramie River. We decided to put on and run a mile and hike back out due to the fact that the river consisted of 16 miles of a super willow infested creek like run. we checked some of the topos for the run and it looks to be an outstanding overnighter run. Once the Duck Creek road opens the access may decrease the length of the run to 10 miles. anyways ill try and show a little of the headcam so if anybody feels it nessecary to explore the run a bit more please feel free. Wish we had more time than just three days.
Second day of the trip consisted of a day on one of our favorite runs, Box Elder Creek. Our original plan was to make it back into the middle box for a second d of BS falls. Due to a 3 hour late start we were unable to make an attempt on the beautifully dangerous gorge down stream. however we were able to still make it an exciting day for everybody, myself included. David Schmitt and I popped four Box Elder Cherries that day and it was hard not to find a smile on any face. no broken boats, one swim on loaf, and one dropped boat on the hike out( not saying names...Smauk) flows were min but great for the middle of April considering Casper,Wyoming is north of Colorado. After a great run down the gorge we rested a bit before the steep hike back out to the car on top. Anybody going for the middle and lower should ask permission for land access before storming across the private land. He is a super nice gentleman from what i gathered when we were granted access to walk on his path from the creek to the county road. His land sits on the northwest side of the creek after you hit the dam. if you find a blue dry bag and a tripod hit us up..
Third day we decided to hit the park and throw some down river tricks in our creek boats at the Casper Whitewater park. Fremont was on the Agenda but without an idea of the flow we decided it be best to save it for a day when you can actually get a gauge reading on the gorge. Sat and Sun the North Platte Basin Teacup graphs read blank for everybodies info.
It turned out to be a great weekend regardless of the fact bluegrass was a skunk and a couple of the creeks werent quite primed for runoff. Soon enough the fruits of run off will be enjoyed! stay safe everybody

Mike first scoop of triple scoop

Chase with a quick shot of wild turkey

Jason hitting the electric boofs than about to kerplunk into the wall.

Schmitt thrown down the Dung

Fremont Canyon spring stout

Fremont Spring Stout from Mike Perry on Vimeo.

It was the end of March and i just scored my first strokes on quake. I still needed more so I decided to head down to my early season mecca, Casper Wyo! Joined with two of my good buddies, Luke Sutton and Austin Woody we rallied one of the best early season runs in my own opinion, in regards to amount of time and money available...Fremont Canyon is a tight little gorge 45 mins south of Casper. The difficulty of the run is dramtically affected by the presence of sieves which come into play at different levels. Because of this, the last drop ,guarding the exit of the gorge, becomes mandatory at certain levels as well as unscoutable from with in the gorge, this gorge lies above the steel bridge. At 1800, the flow in this edit, the two drops above geranimo are easy class IV with low consequence, the top gorge with the john fremont feature have a similartiy to that of Cross Mountain Gorge with a easy III+ rating allow any one to soak in the scenery after a great blast of water at the start of the canyon.. Cheers to a great season ahead! Stay Safe

March lap on Quake

Everybody including myself seems stoked for the year to come. Heres my first strokes of 2011, little late but at least its got enough juice to get me off the board and back into a boat.

Quake and Bake from Mike Perry on Vimeo.

Late Season Goods

I had the opportunity to get in a great late season run a couple weeks ago. The Big Thompson is a super fun medium volume river that had some excellent releases late into the fall this year. Similar in character to many of the runs along the Colorado front range, the Big Thompson provides a range of different class runs, like the neighboring Cache La Poudre and St. Vrain drainages.

It had been a couple months since I had last gotten in the creek boat and firing up the fairly technical class V section had me a little gripped. But after a shaky and exciting first lap it was smooth sailing punctuated with clean lines and rowdy boofs. By the third lap Leif Anderson and Conor Flynn were ready to run the often skipped crux drop of the run, Garbage Disposal. I’d say it’s an applicable name especially if you find yourself upside down. The 12-13 footer is whirlwind of sharp rocks with a fairly narrow landing, and is certainly no place for the boof impaired. The guys both had awesome lines and from there we made our way downstream for another lap. With the sun setting over the ridge by 4:00 we decided to call it a day, and what a day it was. Despite the cold, late fall boating is always a great time.



Happy boating, see you on the river